Word of Faith Fellowship (WOFF) member, Diane McKinny, faces her sentencing hearing on Thursday in Asheville. In March of this year, she pleaded not guilty to a charge of conspiracy to commit wire fraud. The next few months were filled with motions and hearings which apparently were a big waste of the Court’s resources. May 10th of this year, she pleaded guilty to one count of making a False Statement in relation to the Unemployment Benefits scheme in which three other defendants were sentenced. The other three; Dr. Jerry Gross, his son, Jason Gross and Marion Kent Covington were also WOFF members.

September 16th, McKinny’s attorney, Amos G. Tyndall filed his Sentencing Memorandum in which he named McKinny as an “extraordinary citizen.” He asked the Judge for “home confinement or probation.” He cites the (11) character letters submitted on her behalf.

Tyndall declares, “…her father’s abuse and her mother’s message that she was unwanted had a profound impact on her sense self-worth, her willingness to trust others and her ability to form relationships. For much of her life, Ms. McKinny isolated herself, avoided social interactions, and formed poor health habits that resulted in serious medical conditions.

… At some point, Ms. McKinny moved to Rutherford County, N.C. where she joined a community, particularly her community of faith, that accepted her, appreciated her gifts, and helped her leave her life of isolation.”

“…leave her life of isolation.”? Not by a long shot, Mr. Tyndall. But, how would you know that?

He goes on to point out McKinny had no decison power in who was laid-off and how the scheme progressed. “Ms. McKinny takes responsibility and regrets her decisions.” I am sure she does.

“…At the same time, Ms. McKinny asks the Court to consider her participation for a
few months in the context of her limited authority within her company,… (emphasis added)

The original March 5th indictment gave the scheme a span, “November 2008 to in or around March of 2013…” Much more than a few months.

Tyndall points out “Ms. McKinny’s circumstances, however, are different
from the other participants, certainly the participants charged with offenses…”

That is a true statement and one that U.S. Assistant David Bradley includes in his Sentencing Memorandum filed September 23rd.

Bradley opens with, “…The guideline sentencing range is 18-24 months’ imprisonment, and the United States contends that a sentence within that range would be sufficient, but not greater than necessary, to satisfy the purposes of the sentencing statute.”

The U.S. Attorney provides a brief outline of the scheme and the participation of McKinny. He continues to answer a few of the points brought out by Tyndall.

“Moreover, the Defendant played a serious role in this serious offense. True, it was not a supervisory role of the type contemplated by U.S.S.G. § 3B1.1, and she did not direct the actions of others, but she played the role of an essential facilitator in the commission of the offense.” (emphasis added)

“Fairness suggests that persons who play different roles in an offense should receive different sentences—e.g., some at the high end of the guideline sentencing range, some at the low end, and some below the low end—and the United States contends that this Defendant’s role in the offense was too serious to warrant any downward variance.”

“The Sentencing Commission has cautioned that “[c]ivic, charitable, or public service; employment-related contributions; and similar prior good works are not ordinarily relevant in determining whether a departure is warranted.” U.S.S.G. 5H1.11.”

“As another put it, in United States v. McClatchey, 316 F.3d 1122 (10th Cir. 2003), “excellent character references are not out of the ordinary for an executive who commits white-collar crime; one would be surprised to see a person rise to an elevated position in business if people did not think highly of him or her.” Id. at 1135.

The Defendant is not a “high-ranking corporate executive,” but she certainly is a highly educated person—for example, she has a graduate-level business degree—who occupied a position of respect within her community, and, in that, she is exactly the type of person one would expect to have contributed to her community in a positive way in the past….”

Bradley goes on to mention the need for proper sentencing as a deterrent to future crimes of this nature.

“…The Court has already sentenced three people for their role in this offense, or series of offenses. The Defendant is asking this Court to impose the same sentence on her—a term of probation, with or without a period of home confinement—that this Court imposed on the previous defendants Jerry and Jason Lee Gross.

For this Defendant to receive the same sentence as the Gross defendants would be an injustice. As this Court knows, the Gross defendants arrived at sentencing in a very different posture.”

“At the other end of the spectrum, of course, is Marion Kent Covington. Covington’s criminal conduct was far worse than the Defendant’s—indeed, he was at the center of the scheme and accrued nearly all of the financial benefits himself—and he also obstructed justice during the sentencing process. The Defendant certainly should not be sentenced like Covington, but so long as she is sentenced within the guideline sentencing range, that will not be an issue. A guideline sentence for the Defendant, particularly one at the low end, would establish her at the approximate mid-point between Covington and the Gross defendants, which is an appropriate result.”

After reading both Memorandums and the character letters, I agree with Bradley’s conclusion. She was more central and functional to the broad scope of the scheme than the Grosses and was deceiver of record with the State. We cannot know her interpersonal struggles, if any, during the commission of this crime. But, the facts remain; she completed the forms and made it go.

Can a person be a victim and a perpetrator at the same time? I believe so. In general terms, I believe she was a faithful follower with little to no resistance to what she was required to do. After years of being conditioned to obey spiritual authority, it would have been an especially rare event for her to say- “No, I will not participate.”

To that end, when/if she serves time in prison, my hopes are she will be afforded counseling and/or mental health resources to help her to resolve any ongoing internal conflicts.

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Scripture references are Amplified Version unless otherwise noted.(Copyright © 1954, 1958, 1962, 1964, 1965, 1987 by The Lockman Foundation) This is post number 668.